DISINFO: Russian missile to hit a residential building in Dnipro is a fake, it was a gas explosion
SUMMARY
Ukrainian media lied about a Russian missile hit a residential building in Dnipro. In fact, there was a gas explosion in the building.
Similar destruction can be seen in photographs of the aftermath of domestic gas explosions in Kyiv and Novaya Odessa.
Most likely, a Ukrainian air defence missile failed to hit a Russian missile aimed at a military facility and hit a residential building, as a result of which the gas exploded. This is confirmed by satellite images, which show that in the direction of the flight of the Russian missile there was a military facility, where, apparently, expensive and tactically important military equipment was stored, and which was covered by Ukrainian air defence forces.
RESPONSE
On 14 January 2023 a Russian heavy cruise missile struck a nine-storey apartment building overlooking a park near the river, killing at least 44 people and injuring another 75, with 40 people reported missing, by 17 January (death toll is rising as the as rescue workers continued to sift through the mountain of concrete).
This strike became the most destructive Russian attack on a residential building in Ukraine in the last six months.
The core of that building is now gone, transformed into a mountain of jumbled concrete. Apartments were sliced in half when the missile – with a warhead of nearly one metric ton – penetrated all the way to the basement.
On January 16, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that it had identified the Russian military involved in the missile attack. Criminal proceedings were opened against them under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war). Six soldiers, whose data was published by the SBU, are from the 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment. It is deployed in the village of Shaikovka in the Kaluga region.
After inspecting the site of the tragedy, the type of Russian cruise missile - Kh-22, which the enemy used to hit the residential building, has been preliminarily confirmed. After relevant examinations, the individuals involved will be notified of suspicion of committing a particularly serious crime against Ukraine, says SBU.
On the available video recordings, no interception of any missile is seen or heard, and only one explosion is heard - when it hits the house, says Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT). What was the purpose of the missile? In this case, the nearest important target - Pridneprovska combined heat and power plant - is located 4 km from the building that was hit. It is possible that the missile itself was defective, due to which it deviated from the given trajectory by such a large distance. During the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, there were cases when outdated coordinates were used (there used to be a military facility in one place or another, and now it is residential development), says Conflict Intelligence Team.
Several pro-Kremlin media outlets, as well as Putin's press officer Peskov, refer to Oleksiy Arestovich's (adviser to the President of Ukraine) earlier statement that it could have been a Ukrainian air defence missile. (Arestovich apologised and wrote a letter of resignation after his words were amplified by pro-Kremlin media).
Arestovich refers to an unnamed source from the air defence, who said that he heard two pops near the explosion site. In urban conditions, it could be a reflected echo, a bang from the passage of a supersonic missile, air defense work on a different target. Therefore it is not a hard evidence, says CIT.
"Oleksiy Arestovich is undoubtedly right about one thing: in any case, it is Russia [Russian invasion of Ukraine] that is responsible for this incident", - reminds CIT.